Located in North Africa, the Sahara is the largest hot desert in the world.
Geographically, the Sahara Desert covers as many as eleven different countries including Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad, and Sudan, with an area of around 9.4 million square kilometres.
The term ‘Sahara’ has its origin in the Arabic language, meaning ‘desert’. Predictably, it is one of the most consistently hottest places in the world.
On the other hand, it can drop below freezing point rapidly at nights. In general, the climate is hot, dry, and windy. While it rarely rains in some parts, there are regions which do not see a drop of rain in years!
All this makes Sahara an inhospitable place to live. It is estimated that only less than 2.5 million people live in the region, despite its vastness.
The highest point in the desert is the volcano named Emi Koussi in Chad. Historians note that thousands of years ago, the Sahara Desert had enough water to let people live well.